Best Mosquito Control

I’ve had a lot of trouble in the past with the theories and the costs of mosquito control systems. Not to mention the fact that I’ve never been entirely convinced of their effectiveness.

When I first moved to the country the bugs drove me to distraction. I was either wearing a bug jacket, lighting candles and picks everywhere I could or I was researching and testing the next latest and greatest mosquito control device that manufacturers unleashed onto the market.

We started with a bug zapper – you know the ones, they are your parents’ generation of a lantern styled device where you’d hear the bug frying as it hit the bulb. The trouble with these is that they not only kill the mosquito and other biting bugs, they also attract and kill beneficial and beautiful bugs such as moths and fireflies.

That device alone made me want to give up the quest of mosquito control. However, living in ‘bug country’, watching my animals huddle in the barn on the worst of days, and being completely fed up with feeling as though I am a prisoner in my own house, I’ve started thinking differently about these bug control systems.

I had other doubts as well. The first of which was that my research led me to understand that there are hundreds of breeds of mosquitoes in this world – how would I be sure that the unit on the shelf (selling for hundreds of dollars) was going to kill the breed that’s taken over my backyard without upsetting the eco-balance?

Then I watched a CBS Morning Show last year.

The CBS Morning Show featured a mosquito control system called the Mosquito Mega-Catch.

Now I’m old enough to know not to trust television segments, so I headed online for independent reviews and any conducted research study I could find. What I found both amazed and educated me.

The Mega-Catch had been extensively tested by bug experts that had no affiliation with the company and was found superior for cleaning up your area of the biting nuisances (including the other bad bugs: black flies and no-see-ums).

The Mosquito Mega-Catch was tested:

by a wide variety of independent research teams;

in a variety of settings (from cabin to suburban to swamp land properties);

on a variety of mosquito breeds (they actually did a "release and count" in tented acreage in one of the studies);

and tested numerous mosquito control systems both side by side, as well as the Mega-Catch operating on it’s own.

All the research was rather fascinating and now I know far more about mosquitoes than I had ever wanted to know…

The best part? The control system that works best was only $249 retail.

That is the cheapest price I found anywhere – and I even researched used systems on eBay. Actually there are a few sellers on eBay carrying this product for $20 less than retail, but you’ll end up paying more on shipping and warranties could be a real hassle. Better to get it from the source or a reputable store with a full warranty.

The source I chose is one of the oldest catalog retailers in the US (established in 1848). If anything goes wrong with your order, delivery, etc. they really step up with customer service – they state, both on their catalog and their website, that "if a product fails to meet your expectations, for any reason, you can return it for a full refund…".

Update on Our Mosquito Control

I bought it and I love it. Once every two weeks I have to maintain it (rinse out the collection cup and replenish the water supply) and it has worked wonders. The horses and dogs are happier, we are happier, and our company has a more enjoyable stay when they come for dinner or a weekend.

Because we have had such success with it

Every year for the last 6 years, the Mosquito Mega-Catch will go on back-order. The manufacturer just can’t seem to keep up with demand once people talk to friends or family about the effectiveness of this system. I saw it coming. I knew that as soon as everyone found out about this system it could become harder to get your own.

If you’ve waited too long and the unit is sold out and biting insect control has become important to you – you have children or pets that you care about or West Nile Virus has been discovered in your area, you might want to try Amazon – but I’ll warn you right now, you’ll be paying up to $500 for the same system. I don’t know how twice the price can be justified other than the cost of scarcity – I do believe the unit is worth that much for the peace of mind it will give you, but why pay $500 when you could have purchased for $249?

Mosquito Mega-Catch for Canadians

As you may already know I am located in Canada. So while I was researching control systems for Canada I also shopped around for best prices for Canadians. Our lovely Customs Service dings us hard on the wallet whenever we order anything from the USA. For instance, last month a friend from Colorado sent me a gift – a $50 juicer from WalMart USA. When the gift arrived I was presented with a 55 Canadian Customs Invoice at my door – just for the joy of receiving a gift from the US!

That’s a charge I can live without. There is currently one Canadian dealer for this system. But when I calculated Canadian to US exchange rate, the Canadian distributor’s delivery fee, a higher starting price on the unit and no promotional discount, I determined that the unit would cost me an extra $90 to order from a Canadian rep.

How can this be, especially given the Canadian Customs robbery? Well Hammacher has a customs broker that charges (and pays to the government) a flat rate per item coming across the border. (And it’s far cheaper than receiving a gift, that’s for sure!). Order yours today, save money and get more out of your outdoor living spaces this summer.

About Laura Childs

Country Living enthusiast Laura Childs was a downtown city girl for many years before heading to the hills to live a sustainable lifestyle, raise her daughter, get back to the land, and learn the time tested traditions of a simpler era.
Throughout her farm life adventures of raising animals, working from home, home schooling her daughter, and being more green, Laura Childs has been sharing on the GoodByeCityLife website through articles and personal musings since 1998.

4 comments

I actually write stuff, then get distracted or drawn away on other projects, and then forget to come back. And actually…I don’t sell it. I just recommend it!

Our MegaCatch is incredible – and it’s been what, 4 years now? We did see a difference in that first year with the mosquito population but a more remarkable difference in the second spring with the black flies. It’s important to note though that these populations have a lot to do with weather conditions – how fast that pond dries up in our back property, etc. Before the third year we had a house fire and lost the entire house. My MegaCatch was wintered in the garden shed so while we were rebuilding we ran it again – on a car battery no less! (don’t try this at home) – and I know it saved us many, many bites while we worked away for hours every day and sometimes right through the night.

Here’s another ‘however’ though…when we rebuilt, we moved a little higher up on the land where there was more breeze and not as close to the back forest and pond. With all that said though…I’ve lived on this land for 12 years now and I know how bad the insects can get here – they make it impossible to work, eat, or garden outside without losing your mind, wearing a bug jacket or spraying pesticides on your clothing – the last 3 years have been bearable and I know I owe it all to the MegaCatch. If anything ever happens to it – i.e. it stops working – I’ll be buying another without a second thought.

This year I have a large vegetable garden, we have lawn chairs in the sun, we don’t run from the car to the house swatting madly about our heads and our horses seem to spend less time hiding in the barn.

It sure looks like the same unit but that worst review says it is about the (Kitchen) model which I’ve never seen nor used. I had a look at some of the negative reviews – and frankly I’m more than shocked. The unit did wonders for us and we were in an area surrounded by swamps and thick bush. The house was situated in a little dip or valley of the land too which just seemed like a feeding ground for mosquitos who didn’t have to fight off the summer breezes when they were searching for a meal. While nothing else changed in our area (for at least 100 acres all around us) we certainly did notice a reduction in the quantity of hatches over the years we’ve been using the mosquito mega catch.

A few of the reviews say that they thought the success of the mosquito control unit was a marketing ploy, campaign, etc. I guess there is a lot of distrust in the world now, so many people believing that everything is a conspiracy against them personally. Or have some weird sense that they’re product vigilantes spreading the truth. Reality check! If we all wanted to be a little more crazy we could look at those negative reviews and state they are fake – that they have been hired by one of the other mosquito repellant companies to damage Mega-Catch’s brand.

All I know is that I love it! It works for us (I should say worked because we have moved in the last 6 months and we left our Mega Catch for the new owners), in our swamp-bush surrounded land, on our breed of mosquitoes. How the Mega Catch performs on mosquito control in Hong Kong is past my understanding.

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Why Live In The Country?

At first country living was just a personal choice. I wanted to give my daughter the best of both worlds. Country living was a touch of reality mixed in with fresh air and a strong value system. And I reasoned that I could teach her the 'finer' aspects of life (societal culture and multi-culturism) in weekend jaunts to the city and lengthy trips overseas.

Not long after we moved, personal choice seemed more of a necessity to healthy than anything. As the doors were swung wide on feed lot practices, pesticides and hormone residue in our food supply, GMOs, and fractured food additives. How could I feed her growing body on the foodstuffs available at the grocery store?

If this is all new to you I urge you to watch Food, Inc. a documentary on commercially grown food that we are expected to serve our family night after night. Watch it as a family and don't stop there.

Want to really be pro-active? Get gardening to grow healthy organic vegetables. Bake your own breads and make your own sauces, pickles, jam and salsas. You'll find plenty of information on doing all of this on GoodByeCityLIfe.

Country Living with GoodByeCityLife

GoodByeCityLife was one of the first websites created to honor country living. First launched in 1998 the site has seen many transformations.

This Country Living website is owned and operated by Laura Childs. Her initial vision was to create a website that chronicled the adventures of a single mom striving for a sustainable life on a hobby farm, far away from amenities and services.